


Curveball

by istia



Series: Rare Pairs [15]
Category: Rescue: Special Ops
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, M/M, POV Chase Gallagher, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:40:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25175542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/istia/pseuds/istia
Summary: Chase stumbles onto one of Dean's secrets.
Relationships: Dean Gallagher/Jordan Zwitkowski
Series: Rare Pairs [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/390025
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Curveball

He let himself into the house, dropped the keys with a clatter on the floor in his rush, muttered a curse as he bent to pick them up, then straightened--and found himself staring at Jordan, who was standing in the doorway to the kitchen. Chase blinked and froze, eyes fixed on a Jordan who was not only inexplicably in Chase's house, but even more inexplicably _naked_ in Chase's house.

Of course, naked Jordan wasn't an unusual sight. He saw Jordan naked regularly, given their use of the communal locker room and showers at work. He reckoned he saw parts--or all--of Jordan's very fit, very tanned everything almost every workday, not even counting the times when they stripped down after a rescue involving water or filth or something of the like that propelled them into shedding their clothes and wrapping up in a towel till they could get to a hot shower.

But this was Sunday evening, not a workday, and it definitely wasn't their workplace. Also, not only was there no towel in sight, but this naked Jordan, standing in the doorway to Chase's own kitchen, was sporting a half-hard cock jutting with promising fullness from his thick nest of black hair.

Chase snapped his eyes back up to Jordan's face in time to see him visibly relax with a smirk. Jordan settled into a loose-limbed stance, making no attempt to hide his budding erection.

"Uh, what the fuck?" Chase said, the best he could come up with in response to Jordan's nonchalance. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Jordan shrugged his broad shoulders. "Visiting." He cocked his head. "Thought you were out for the evening?"

"Yeah, I was. I mean, I am, except I forgot something. I'm not stopping. Just in-and-out." He shook his head. "Wait. This is _my_ place. Why are you here when I'm not home?"

Jordan's smile was undeniably sweet now. "Not actually your house, Chase." He lifted his left hand to display a pair of beers.

Chase could actually feel his jaw dropping and his eyes widening. "No fucking way." A whisper was all he could manage.

Jordan shrugged lightly, his humour deepening, just as Chase heard a sound on the stairs and looked up to meet Dean's level gaze. At least Dean was half-dressed, but, as he proceeded down the stairs, his bare chest and bare feet suddenly stood out as more significant than they'd normally be.

...Normal. Yeah, okay. Chase swiped a hand over his face. He had to admit, the way his brother and his best friend were acting, this whole thing was pretty damned normal, for them.

He looked back and forth between them as Dean moved to face him, not tight to Jordan's side, but close enough to make them a unit. Irritatingly, they both wore identical amused expressions.

"I thought you were gonna be gone this evening," Dean said. "What do I have to do, hang a sock on the doorknob?"

"I am out. I mean, I will be out. I forgot something, but it's not important. I'll be out till late. Very late. All night, in fact. I'll see you both at work tomorrow."

Ignoring Dean's chuckle, he turned and left, closing the door firmly but quietly behind him and locking it, then high-tailed it for his car.

Fucking big brother and his eternal big-brother secrets. Now, dammit, he'd have to spend the night on the sofa at Dad's place. But Dean and Jordan? He wondered if everybody else knew and only he was alone out in la-la land.

But, seriously, Dean liked guys? How the hell'd he managed to live for twenty-five years as Dean's brother and never caught even an inkling of this basic trait? Because, sure, Dean was notoriously zipped when it came to anything to do with his...love life, but still. Not even a hint. Not the slightest, mildest indication. At least not that Chase had ever noticed.

Dean had a lot of secrets. Chase had known that since he'd grown up and started interacting with Dean as an adult. He just hadn't, for some reason, ever expected sleeping with guys to be one of those many secrets.

Jordan's being mum about it didn't surprise him as much because there were a lot of things in Jordan's chequered past he didn't talk about. Not that liking guys counted as chequered, but Jordan keeping hush about his life back before they'd met would never be surprising. That integral part of Jordan was just something you accepted if you were Jordan's friend.

Jordan was his best friend and Dean was his brother. They'd never let on. He was kind of hurt. Even more hurt than when he'd eventually discovered they had history together that extended to long before he'd thought they met. A history that wasn't confined to work.

Nonsexual history, he'd thought. Well.

:::::::

He escaped Dad's sofa early and got into work before anybody else. He was changed and sitting staring into space in the ops room when Jordan arrived. Alone. Jordan paused on seeing him.

"Hey," Chase said and smiled.

Jordan smiled back. "You're early. Have a good night?" His voice was all innocence.

Chase rolled his eyes. "At least I made my getaway before Dad got up and attempted breakfast. Though warn a guy next time, eh? Give me a chance to make better arrangements. Maybe a sock on the doorknob would be a good idea." He spoke lightly, eyes watchful on Jordan.

Jordan nodded. He dumped his bag on his desk. "I planned to be gone before you were supposed to get home. We didn't expect--" He snorted. "Obviously. Anyway, thanks for the surprise whole night." His lips quirked up. "You'll be happy to hear we made good use of it."

Chase dropped his head back and squeezed his eyes shut, groaning. "Oh, my god, never invoke any images of my brother in the, uh, midst of it. Okay? Be a mate, I beg you."

Jordan laughed and dropped into his chair. "Deal. So, I take it you had no idea about him?"

"Nope. Always reckoned he was the straightest of the straight and narrow."

"Yeah, well, he's still straight and narrow, you know, if not also actually completely straight."

"Oh, yeah."

They shared the grin of juniors discussing their commander. The re-established ease between them felt like home again, though he couldn't help thinking of the weird and tangled relationships between the three of them, so much more complicated than he'd ever imagined: Brothers; best friends; lovers; co-workers; and, here in this place, juniors/seniors in the command line. In the field, Dean was his commander. Off work, his brother and now, it turned out, his best friend's lover. He wondered what it all looked like from Jordan's side.

He drew in a breath. "You don't need to tell me anything, mate, but I sort of felt last night like it's not a brand new thing?"

Jordan rubbed a hand over his hair and, for a moment, Chase thought he wasn't going to answer, but then he said. "No, it's been a while. Started before I joined the squad."

Chase chewed on that, then said quietly, "Were you ever going to tell me?"

Jordan looked down to the desk, picking up a pen and rolling it between his fingers. One of his habits when he was feeling uncomfortable. After a moment's silence, he shrugged. "Nothing really to tell."

He stared at Jordan's lowered head. "What d'you mean? You looked pretty damned comfortable together last night."

Jordan's faint smile was bittersweet in contrast to his breezy voice: "My dad always told me I wasn't a keeper. Probably the truest thing the bastard ever said. Reckon it's best just to think of it as a bunch of one-offs, not going anywhere that other people need to know about."

Chase sat up. "Jordan--"

"Well, well, if this isn't a first: both of you here before anybody else." Dean strolled into the room, plunked his bag down on his chair, and stared at Chase with that exasperatingly penetrating look he'd perfected before Chase hit eight years old.

"So?" Dean stared into his eyes.

Chase fought off the urge to squirm and kept his eyes locked with Dean's. "So? So what?"

Jordan's voice was light and amused, the hint of melancholy gone like it'd been an illusion. "Yeah. You owe me dinner."

Chase blinked his eyes away from Dean to Jordan. "What? Are you fucking kidding me? You really made a bet on me finding out?"

"Nah," Jordan grinned at him. "We bet on how you'd take it when you _did_ find out."

"Oh, hah-hah." He looked between them. "So, come on, spill. Who bet what?"

"Dean reckoned you'd freak out. I knew better." Jordan flicked a grin like a cat's sass at Dean, who shrugged and smiled back: just at Jordan; wholly for Jordan, long enough to make Chase's neck tingle.

Then Dean broke their look and turned businesslike, per his usual at work, like spinning on a dime. "The others'll be here soon. Up and at 'em."

Dean picked up his bag and walked towards the locker room, his brisk steps telegraphing his expectation they'd follow him, just like always. Chase automatically stood up and grabbed his own gear to stow it, then fell into step with Jordan. He leaned close.

"I reckon maybe there's more there to hold onto than you might think, mate," he murmured, eyes on his brother's straight back ahead of them. He nudged Jordan's shoulder. "Just...maybe don't give up too easily on making something out of it, if that's what you really want, yeah?"

As he stepped into the doorway of the locker room ahead of Jordan, Chase glanced back. Jordan met his eyes, looking startled and maybe a tad speculative.

"Of course, if it was me," Chase couldn't help adding, "I'd hold out for somebody a lot better looking."

Jordan gave him a quick smile, slight but warm, while his eyes shifted to rest on Dean ahead of them, so Chase reckoned that was all right.

:::::

A routine call just after 3 p.m.: climbers stuck on a cliff face that had proved to be a challenge a few notches above their skill level to navigate. Two of them had made it to the top and made the call, but another two were clinging more or less frozen to mossy boulders while a third had fallen and was dangling, his safety lines endangering the others. Chase lay on the cliff top with Dean to assess the situation while the others got the gear out and set up. The climbers were spread out enough that it'd need three of them to go over, one for each.

Damned updraft was gusting strongly, too, to make things that bit more unstable.

The dangling guy being the most difficult target, Dean assigned himself to that job. Lara took the huddled climber on the right and Jordan the one on the left.

He and Heidi manned the equipment above, moving in the efficient, practiced sync that marked him as fully part of the team now. He was the latecomer and Dean's kid brother, but he'd earned his place now all on his own.

Everything went smoothly for the first two. Lara was first up the cliff with her target, a young woman who laughed with relief and embarrassment as Chase helped her up onto level ground and guided her to the truck to check her over.

"I'm so sorry," she said to Chase as she clasped the hand of the woman who rushed to her side. "We should've taken the wind into account, then Harry fell and it just didn't feel safe to move."

He murmured reassurance as he checked her blood pressure and breathing, asked if she had any injuries. She was fine, so he left her to her friend. Lara was already over the cliff again, heading down to help Dean with the dangling Harry. Chase lay down on the ground to check on Jordan. He and his charge were two-thirds of the way to the top, moving slowly but surely. Jordan signalled he didn't need help, so Chase returned to Heidi at the equipment. They shared a smile.

"Nice day," she said.

"It really is." He stole a moment to scan the green and blue beauty of the hilltop area before turning all his attention back to the job.

Lara and Dean reached the top, and he and Heidi lifted Harry up to safety. They checked him over as the other three of his group gathered around, but other than being out of breath and trembling from the scare of nearly falling to his death, he was okay. Dean nodded, satisfied, and turned to check on Jordan's progress.

Which is when it almost went balls-up. Jordan had got his charge to the top, but the unnerved man, seeing safety at hand, was too impatient to wait for help and tried flailing his way onto the top of the rock. Chase and Dean grabbed his arms and pulled him up, but he kicked Jordan in the face accidentally in the process. Jordan slipped a foot down the face of the rock before stopping himself. Lara, still in her harness, was about to go over the edge after him, but he called that he was okay and made his way to the top quickly, where he stood with the heel of his hand pressed to his eye. Chase tugged him over to the truck and made him sit down. He cleaned him up and put a plaster on the cut beside his eye, which was already bruising spectacularly.

"You're gonna have a beaut, mate," he told him.

Jordan snorted a laugh. 'Yeah, I can feel it."

Jordan's eyes cut abruptly to Chase's left. Jordan's smile faded to seriousness for a long, still moment before he gave a miniscule nod, barely more than a flicker of his eyes. Chase glanced casually to his side in time to see Dean--his face utterly expressionless; a controlled mask--give an equally small nod in return before turning away.

Jordan left to help Heidi square away the last of the ropes. As he dealt with the medical equipment, Chase's mind kept rerunning that barely discernible exchange of nods, wondering how many other such moments he'd missed during their multitude of runs. He couldn't fathom why Dean and Jordan were keeping this thing between them under the covers, so to speak, though he supposed one or both of them must have a good reason.

Thing was, though, now he knew about it, he couldn't ever not know.

He sighed and set about planning to spend another night somewhere other than at home.


End file.
